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The earliest improved public road west from Lake Erie to the Indiana border, the Territorial-Indiana Road was built by the U.S. Government in 1834-1835 through the Cottonwood Swamp, then a major obstacle to travel. It ran parallel to the Harris Line, the northern boundary of a narrow strip of land contested by Ohio and Michigan from 1803 until 1836, when Ohio annexed it following the “Toledo War.” Completion of the 110-mile road gave farmers and settlers much improved access to markets and new western lands. It became the Indiana Plank Road in 1848 and later Sylvania-Metamora Road. The Toledo and Western Electric Railway’s parallel right-of-way was completed in 1902.
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The first wave of Polish immigrants arrived in Toledo beginning in 1871. Most were Roman Catholics escaping oppression in Prussian Poland, where German chancellor Otto von Bismarck had instituted “Kulturkampf,” a policy of cultural assimilation. The first formal association of the Toledo Polonia (Polish community) occurred on October 16, 1875, when twenty-five families formed St. Hedwig Parish on that saint’s feast day. By 1900 Toledo had become a center of Polish population in America, and many Poles found work here in the growing glass and automobile industries.
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Toledo’s first fire station was built in November 1837 one city block due north of this site at the southwest corner of Cherry Street and Eagle Lane at 519 Cherry on what is now the driveway for the Goodwill Industries Building. It was a small non-descript, wooden building, built by contractors Hoisington and Manning for $78. It was replaced by a two-story brick building with tin-clad window sills and trim in December 1854. With fire trucks becoming larger and heavier, it was necessary to construct a new building in 1872 at a cost of $7000. Designated Station No. 2, it remained in service until 1953 when the new headquarters station at Huron and Orange streets was dedicated. It disappeared for good during the Urban Renewal projects of the late 1950s and 1960s.
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Sylvania was once the headquarters for the Toledo and Western Railway, an electric interurban line that provided service between Toledo and Pioneer with a branch line to Adrian, Michigan. Construction began here in 1900 with planning and specifications set to steam railroad standards. With completion of rails, a powerhouse, maintenance facilities, and offices, the Toledo and Western Railway Company was soon in the business of providing freight and passenger service and was especially competitive as it owned more freight engines than most interurban lines. Operating an electric interurban line also meant that the company had the ability to provide electricity to people living in Sylvania and to other communities and property owners living along the line’s right-of-way. Besides freight, passengers, and electricity, Toledo and Western also provided postal service, one of the first interurban lines to do so. [continued on other side]
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The David and Clarissa Harroun family migrated to Sylvania in 1835 and built their home, and in 1858 the barn, on this site. Four generations of this Harroun family called this property home, from 1835-1938. While here, David, Clarissa, and their son Edwin became involved in aiding fugitive slaves across the Underground Railroad to freedom in Canada. David secretly transported the runaways from Maumee to Sylvania in his lumber wagons. The fugitives were covered in hay, and the wagons were driven at night to avoid detection. Once on Harroun’s property, they were hidden in the attic of the home or the hayloft of the barn. The Lathrop family, who lived on a farm to the west, helped the Harrouns by hiding fugitives in the basement of their home. From Sylvania, the runaways were taken to Bedford, Petersburg, or Monroe in Michigan where they were then transported toward Detroit for their crossing into Canada.
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In 1931, the France Stone Company ceased operations. Robert Burge leased 19 acres of the site for recreational swimming and opened Centennial Quarry in 1934. Five years later, Burge and associates opened Centennial Terrace, whose centerpiece was “Dancing Under the Stars,” an outdoor, 10,000 square-foot Terrazzo dance floor. Centennial Terrace was a regular stop for many big bands of the 1940s and ’50s. In 1969, the complex was donated to Lucas County and local band leaders kept the people dancing from 1971 to 1993. In 1994, the City of Sylvania leased the facility and renovated and reopened the quarry. The Sylvania Area Joint Recreation District purchased the complex in 2007 and made further improvements to insure that Centennial Terrace and Quarry remains a popular recreation destination.
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